...an award-nominated Irish blog on Irish history and Irish politics-from today and yesterday:all 32 Counties !Updated a number of times each week . (Mirror site here)

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"1169 And Counting is a wealth of information on our Republican past and present , and demonstrates how the Irish political landscape , like that of any nation, will never be a black and white issue..."

IRISH BLOG AWARDS 2017 - ooops! It seems that our entry application was "not completed in time to be considered.." (?) and, as such, we are not now in the running. But we wish all the best to the successful entrants and to the organisers, and we hope all goes well for them on the day!

Saturday, October 28, 2006

British 'Lord' Salisbury .

In 1883 , 'Lord' Salisbury stated - " Ireland must be kept , like India , at all costs ; by persuasion , if possible , if not - by force ."

British 'Lord' Hugh Cecil .

In 1918 , 'Lord' Hugh Cecil stated - " We must accept the fact of Irish nationality . It is regrettable , it is unhistorical ; in view of Ulsters feelings it is even absurd . But it is a fact - the majority of Irishmen do think Ireland a nation and we must do the best we can in the circumstances . "

British 'Sir' Patrick Barnabas Burke Mayhew, Baron Mayhew of Twysden (as he liked to be called) , British 'Secretary of State for Northern Ireland' from 1992 to 1997 .

In 1993 , 'Sir' Patrick Mayhew stated - " The British government would very happily release Northern Ireland , to be perfectly frank with you .... " : he then withdrew the word "happily" , and stated that the cost of the Six Counties to the British exchequer was .... "...three billion pounds a year net , for one-and-a-half million people ! "

The "cost" should not only be measured in pounds or euro's , and should not be only applied to what it "costs" the British people : it has 'cost' us on this isle countless dead over more than eight centuries , and has been a blight on each generation during those eight centuries . The British no longer control an 'Empire on which the sun never sets...' , nor are they the 'world power' they once judged themselves to be . For the sake of all of us on these two isles , they will have to move on by removing their jurisdictional claim to any part of this island and withdrawing their military and political presence . We deserve , and demand , no less . And will accept no other .

Friday, October 27, 2006

THE SEEDS OF A POLICE STATE .There is substantial evidence that a major crime was perpetrated within the Garda Siochana five years ago . The evidence for this crime has certainly been available to senior Gardai ever since then , but no enquiry whatsoever has taken place , let alone any Garda being disciplined in connection with that crime . By Vincent Browne and Derek Dunne .From 'MAGILL' magazine , September 1983 .

Furthermore , no agency , such as the (State) Department of Justice , has undertaken any investigation of the above-mentioned crime , and at least one (State) Minister for Justice , Gerry Collins , baulked at the opportunity to institute a formal investigation into what occured , even though he had earlier called for such an investigation !

The failure to hold an enquiry into the very persuasive prima facie evidence of this criminal conspiracy is made all the more significant by the subsequent promotion of a great number of Gardai involved in the case , although it would be quite wrong to suggest that those Gardai who we later name as having both been involved and promoted were individually guilty of any wrongdoing .

The crime in question concerns a conspiracy to subvert the course of justice and this involved a significant number of Gardai being involved in a plot to commit perjury....... (MORE LATER).

(Martin McGuinness , left , with Henry Kissinger , as usual , on the right ...)

DISARMING MARTIN ....... All (P)Sinn Fein leaders have a series of mantras and mini-speeches which they seek to get into every interview , regardless of the question . The task of the journalist is to avoid setting off these reflex responses : the problem with Martin McGuinness is that he does it so pleasantly that it seems impolite to interrupt him . From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1999 . By John Waters .

Martin McGuinness stated - " I think that from our perspective in (P) Sinn Fein , we have been conscious all along that there were always going to be people connected to the process who would be concerned at the prospect of , for example , (P) Sinn Fein becoming the largest nationalist party in the North. (P) Sinn Fein's electoral record has clearly sent a message to all of them that you could conceivably have an All-Ireland political party that quite possibly could be in government , both North and South , at the same time . "

He continued - " I think that does put the frighteners into people . And so they are going to , even in the context of a peace process , attempt to , as much as they possibly can , damage the possibility of (P) Sinn Fein ever arriving at such a position . And they're even prepared to do it at the cost of the agreement itself , which is most disturbing and most worrying . " ('1169...' Comment - "..they.." being the infamous 'Securocrats' which the PSF leadership blamed everytime their attempted surrender to Westminster was thrown back in their faces . And it was thrown back in their faces because Westminster had already neutralised the Provos as an effective opposition and had therefore little reason , apart from its own desire to play to the watching media , to hand over any 'prize' .)

It feels quite unreal , given the euphoria of last April , to be sitting around in Stormont talking to Martin McGuinness about the same matters that dominated the previous four years . Decommissioning has remained the slipping clutch of the peace process . ('1169...' Comment - the 'slipping clutch' of a genuine peace process is the lack of a date for British withdrawal) At the time of writing , we appear to have reached a point of absolute inertia , at which the unstoppable force and the immovable object have ground into one another and stand shuddering in their irreconcilability.......(MORE LATER).

In a relatively brief period the Officials , who once prided themselves on the belief that the British government saw their ' revolutionary socialism ' as a greater long-term threat than the Provisional IRA's military campaign , have moved from being 'terrorists' to become the darlings of the British 'Northern Ireland' Office - under a British Tory government !

Seamus Lynch , former internee and now Workers' Party chief in the North , has become in the British view the 'responsible Irish politician' * ('1169....' Comment* - that 'honour' now belongs to these people - the latest Westminster house-pets) - a considerable achievement for a socialist revolutionary ! But the transition has not been totally painless - the main influence behind the left-wing political development of the Officials in the North of Ireland during the early 1970's was their military commander , Billy McMillen .

Billy McMillen had advocated a revolutionary approach that would blend political and military action in the struggle for an all-Ireland socialist republic : the concept of the ballot in one hand and the armalite in the other is more in line with the Official rather than the Provisional tradition .......(MORE LATER).

Thursday, October 26, 2006

The Elizabethan and Cromwellian wars laid waste the Irish land and its people, and resulted in massive land confiscations , amounting to some 11 million acres out of the islands total of 20 million acres . The population was halved between 1845 and the turn of the century , decimated by Great Hungers and related disease, and enforced emigration . More than 5 million people fled the country : 4,750,000 to America , 370,000 to Australia and 70,000 to Canada . The record of the British in Ireland was known to those who followed in Cromwells footsteps :British General 'Sir' Hubert Gough said in 1921 - " Law and order (in Ireland) have given place to a bloody and brutal anarchy in which the armed agents of the Crown violate every law in aimless and vindictive and insolent savagery . England has departed further from her own standards and further from the standards even of any nation in the world , not excepting the Turk and Zulu , than has ever been known in history before . "

Democratic decisions by the Irish people were made in every general election from the introduction of the secret ballot in 1872 : in each election from then until 1918 , the wish of the Irish people to govern themselves was expressed through the ballot box .

In 11 general elections in succession through almost half a century , Irish voters used the ballot to show their will - 60 per cent of those elected by the county and borough constituencies in Ireland in 1874 were 'Home Rulers' and , as more people qualified to vote , this demand grew accordingly : over 80 per cent of Irish representatives from 1885 onwards were elected to win self-government for the country. Britain failed to accept the ballot results and , in 1920 , when Britain partitioned the country , they again ignored the votes of the people whom they insisted in keeping under the Union Jack. Constituencies which in every election for years had voted for Irish self-government were kept within the Unionist 'state' , established at that time . No 'treaty' , 'deal' or so-called 'Agreement' which fails to include a date for British military and political withdrawal will be accepted by Irish Republicans , regardless of whether said 'deal' is signed in London , Scotland or elsewhere , and regardless of who signs that 'deal' . And that position remains solid .

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Michael O' Leary's credibility problem would , of course linger on , even in the PD's. But what are his options? Recent opinion polls have confirmed the message of last year's local elections - that there is no longer a Fine Gael seat in Dublin South West - and he has long since worn out the guarded welcome he received from the local Fine Gael Party organisation .

Unless he gambles on another double departure , the seventh and final age of Michael O' Leary could well be , as one colleague in the bar library put it - "...second childishness and mere oblivion.." :sans teeth , sans balls , and , worst of all , sans a seat in Leinster House ! [END of ' PILLARS OF SOCIETY : MICHAEL O' LEARY'](Next- 'The Seeds Of A Police State' : from 1983)

(Martin McGuinness , left , with Henry Kissinger , as usual , on the right ...)

DISARMING MARTIN ....... All (P)Sinn Fein leaders have a series of mantras and mini-speeches which they seek to get into every interview , regardless of the question . The task of the journalist is to avoid setting off these reflex responses : the problem with Martin McGuinness is that he does it so pleasantly that it seems impolite to interrupt him . From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1999 . By John Waters .

Martin McGuinness stated re Bertie Ahern's interview in a British newspaper - " Some people put his Sunday Times interview down to the fact that a vote on the determination was being taken and David Trimble was in difficulty and the feeling was that some of his people were going to jump ship . And some people believe that it was all part of Bertie's way of doing things . It certainly confused a lot of people . But I have spoken to the Taoiseach* , and he has told me - and I have no reason to disbelieve him - that he is rock solid behind the Good Friday Agreement and is not interested in rewriting it or renegotiating it ."(* '1169...' Comment : Wow! Martin can get an audience with 'the Taoiseach' ! One knows one has 'arrived' when that happens...)

All of which is perfectly sweet and reasonable . But later in the interview , in response to a different question , when McGuinness poses questions about what he perceives as the renewed opposition to (P) Sinn Fein from various quarters in Dublin , there is no sense that he is excluding from his criticisms the present leadership of Fianna Fail .

Place that beside the fact that he never mentions the former Fianna Fail leader , Albert Reynolds , without pressing his 'most-courageous-Taoiseach-since-the-foundation-of-the-State' button , and you have at least an interesting question about the subtext to present relationships within the 'pan-nationalist alliance' . ('1169...' Comment : such an 'alliance' was always on offer to Republicans - what was asked in return was that they abandon Republicanism and place their faith in constitutionalism . de Valera did so , as did MacGiolla and Adams . But not all can be bought. ).......(MORE LATER).

In the heart of Belfast's Lower Falls , the Cyprus Street club is one of the few remaining buildings in a redevelopment wasteland : it used to be the Headquarters of the Official IRA's Northern Command and of its political wing , the 'Republican Clubs'.

It now houses the Lower Falls branch of the Workers Party - the club is one of the last relics of the Official Republican Movement , which has 'evolved' , through intermediate name changes , into 'The Workers Party' . On the wall beside the door to the main hall there is a mural portraying an armed man in silhouette flanked by the words ' Army Of The People' . On the far wall , an image of James Connolly overlooks a quote : ' The cause of Ireland is the cause of Labour ; the cause of Labour is the cause of Ireland'. Such nationalist and militarist sentiments are a long way from the public image currently being projected by the leaders of The Workers Party .

Yet it is from nationalist working-class areas such as the Lower Falls that 'The Workers Party' draws most of its membership - many have been associated with the 'Officials' for more than a decade , and many have seen the inside of prisons as a result of their political activities . These members are truly the party faithful , remaining loyal* through a period which has seen significant changes in the character of their movement's aims and strategy ( '1169...' Comment - * In other words , they followed [ "remained loyal "] to the man , not the Cause).......(MORE LATER).

Monday, October 23, 2006

At a recent meeting in Tallaght , Dublin , Michael O' Leary urged residents to pay their water charges - scarcely popular advice ! But , with characteristic inconsistency he has cleverly avoided taking sides on the travellers' issue .

O' Leary is quite highly thought of in the PD's and the likelihood is that a formal application to join would be favourably received . Clearly there is no room in Tallaght for both Micko and Mary Harney , but that problem is not insoluble .

At the last constituency revision , some 8,000 voters from middle-class Templeogue were transferred out of Dublin South-West : this could provide Micko with a plausible pretext for moving to an adjoining constituency on the PD ticket . Ironically , there is now an obvious Fine Gael vacancy in Dublin Central following Michael Keating's defection to the PD's , but Micko's chances of returning to his old beat in the North Inner City are just about nil.......(MORE LATER).

(Martin McGuinness , left , with Henry Kissinger , as usual , on the right ...)

DISARMING MARTIN ....... All (P)Sinn Fein leaders have a series of mantras and mini-speeches which they seek to get into every interview , regardless of the question . The task of the journalist is to avoid setting off these reflex responses : the problem with Martin McGuinness is that he does it so pleasantly that it seems impolite to interrupt him . From 'MAGILL' magazine , March 1999 . By John Waters .

Asked , for example , what he thinks of (Free State) Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's rather erratic series of comments in recent months about the emphasis on decommissioning in the 'Good Friday Agreement' , Martin McGuinness leaves no doubt that there is , to say the least , a degree of puzzlement in republican (sic- PSF) circles as to what precisely Bertie Ahern is playing at : the word on the street is that the (P) Sinn Fein leadership (*recent picture here*) was ' incandescent with apoplexy ' ( before the suits and careers they would have just been 'raging' ! - ed) about Bertie Ahern's recent interview with 'The Sunday Times' newspaper , in which Ahern at least allowed the impression to be gained that he believed there needed to be some decommissioning of IRA weapons before (P) Sinn Fein could be admitted to the Stormont executive .

There is no sense , from Martin McGuinness's response , that this 'unhappiness' was not indeed profound , and yet , when one sifts through the entrails of the remarks which one imagined to be somewhat critical of Bertie Ahern , they yield nothing but the merest quizzical expression from McGuinness himself ; " I think the only person who can explain the Taoiseach's contributions to this debate is the Taoiseach himself ..." , says McGuinness , fixing me with his most sincere gaze , " ...although he has told us time and time again that he is committed to the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement , that he's opposed to , as he said in Armagh two weeks ago , any attempt to park it or rewrite it ."

Then Martin hits the 'what-people-are-saying-to-me-in-the-street' programme - " If you go out into the streets of West Belfast or many other parts of the North , and nationalist Ireland , I think it is fair to say that there is concern among people about the mixed messages* which are coming from Dublin . I have met quite a number of people in the nationalist community who are seeking explantions as to why this is happening at this time . " (* '1169...' Comment - "Mixed messages..." from Dublin ? That is a "concern" . We mean considering the fact that 'messages from Dublin' have always been strongly pro-republican and vehemently anti-Westminster in the past......!)(MORE LATER).

The British Empire imploded when the cost of fighting two world wars almost bankrupted the 'mother country' , but it might have muddled through if its ungrateful subjects(!) had wanted it to carry on . We did not - most of us broke free at the first chance we got !

No matter how noble the intentions are - and I have yet to be convinced that Pax Americana's intentions are especially noble to begin with - it will backfire sooner or later . As Robespierre once put it - " Nobody likes a missionary with a gun ."[END of 'EMPIRES OF DUST'](Next - 'Guns to bread and butter' - from 1983)

Sunday, October 22, 2006

At the time of writing , we have heard early radio reports of Bertie Ahern's speech to his fellow constitutionalists in Bodenstown , at the grave of Wolfe Tone . Apparently , Mr Ahern applauded the position that more discussion is taking place now in connection with what he terms 'Northern Ireland' than in any other period in recent history . To Bertie Ahern and his likes , that represents 'progress' . Last year at that same spot ,Bertie '(monied)Friends-in-low-places' Ahern stated that "...violence has no place in securing Irish unity..." , ignoring completely the part that violence , unfortunately , played in 'securing Irish dis-unity' and , in doing so , mentally dis-owning those members of his own party who had used violence in an attempt to secure Irish unity . He also stated that " Fianna Fail holds that unity cannot be built on the divisions and fury of ages...." , yet he is far too quick to place responsibility for the 'divisions and fury of ages' at the feet of Irish Republicans , and never where it belongs - Westminster . Also , at that sacred spot last year , Bertie Ahern stated - " We oppose all efforts to impose unity through violence or the threat of violence...." : this island was partitioned 'through violence and the threat of violence' , as Mr Ahern well knows , yet that fact will never be raised by any Fianna Fail representative in their many 'discussions' with Westminster - such talk will only be directed against those opposed to the continuing military and political partition of this country . Maintain the border , Bertie , as your type have done in the past and will continue to do in the future , as instructed by Westminster . . But do not do so from the grave of Wolfe Tone , whose objective was "...to break the connection with England .. " . Now , Mr Ahern - get back to the machinations of your greasy till ....